Journal lubricator



Sept. 12, 1961 B. E. PETERSON JOURNAL LUBRICATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 22, 1957 P 1961 B. E. PETERSON 2,999,726

JOURNAL LUBRICATOR Filed May 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .772 0672207 ZzZ 1:7. Peiersow Filed May 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 .272 a e 22 329w BerZa'Z P6592150,

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This invention relates to a lubricator for railway car journal boxes, and its principal object is to provide a lubricator that is the ultimate in simplicity and low cost and, yet, one that will reliably and efiectively maintain a low operating temperature.

Another object is to provide a lubricator wherein the lubricating element is readily reversible or replaceable.

The invention is directly applicable to existing journal box constructions and comprises a hanger that securely grips the usual brass bearing block and provides attachments for supporting a lubricating blanket in catenary suspension from opposite sides of the car journal. The hanger is in the form of an open-topped framework and comprises an end strap for seating on the upraised shoulder at the inner end of the bearing block and outwardly ofiset cantilever arms carried by the opposite ends of the strap to grip the opposite sides of the block. No modification of the block itself or its associated mounting wedge is required. To insert the hanger the car is jacked up, but once the hanger is in place, it may remain there permanently, while the lubricating blanket carried by the hanger can readily be reversed or replaced.

Simple wire-forming operations are the main operations involved in fabricating the hanger and, according to the invention, the hanger is shaped to avoid unduly close metal-to-metal clearances with the journal itself.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same;

FIG. 1 is a side view through a conventional journal box of familiar construction illustrating the mounting location of the present lubricator;

FIG. 2 is a front end view of the journal box, with parts broken away and sectioned, and with the right-hand half of FIG. 2 being taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear end sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lubricator illustrating the hanger positioned on the bearing block and the lubricator blanket engaging the journal, the journal and bearing block being shown dotted to illustrate the construction and arrangement of the hanger itself, and

FIG. 5 is a view of the wire element that connects the lubricator to the hanger.

The lubricator of the invention is shown applied in the familiar surroundings of a journal box that includes a floor 11, the outer end of which extends upwardly, as at 12, and cooperates with a rear transverse wall 13 to form a lubricant reservoir, the upper level of which is designated at 15. The ceiling of the journal box is designated 16, and cooperates with the usual wedge 17 to retain the brass bearing block or solid bearing 18 that rides on the top of the journal 19. The bearing '18 is shown with its usual Babbitt liner 14.

As is conventional, the bearing block 18 includes an upraised shoulder 29 at its inner end and side lugs 21 extending transversely from opposite sides of the bearing adjacent its outer end. In addition, the sides of the bearing are of stepped construction and provide inwardlyfacing shoulders 22 intermediately along their length. The upraised shoulder is in endwise abutting engagement with the inner edge of the wedge 17 and terminates short of the journal box ceiling to define a passage 23 that extends transversely across the upperinner region of the box.

According to the invention, the hanger is arranged to seat upon and grip the above-mentioned projecting portions of the bearing block, and the hanger is constructed to fit within the journal box without necessitating any modification or rearrangement of the usual parts. Towards this end, the hanger is in the form of an opentopped framework and comprises a transverse strap 25 disposed in passage 23 in seating engagement on the shoulder 20 and a pair of cantilever arms 26 carried by the opposite ends of the strap. The cantilever arms are formed with lug-receiving loops 27 and extend along the opposite sides of the bearing block to rest upon the side lugs 21, with the lugs received within the loops. The inner ends of the cantilever arms are secured to the ends of the strap 25 at a point that is located outwardly of the plane occupied by the portion of the strap 25 that is disposed in transverse passage 23. This outwardly oflfset connection of the cantilever arms affords increased clearance between the closest parts of the framework and the fillet 29 of the journal, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4. It will also be apparent that the arms 26 are spaced apart transversely a sufiicient distance to insure adequate clearance with respect to the rotating journal 19 throughout their entire length.

Each arm is formed with outer and inner vertical crossbar portions 30 and 31, respectively, which cooperate with adjacent portions of the bearing block to secure the framework rigidly in place. The outerbar 30 is arranged closely adjacent the outer end of the outwardlydirected inclined faces 32 of the bearing lugs 21 and, hence, inward movement of the framework relative to the bearing is opposed by the cooperation between the crossbars 30 and the inclined faces 32. Similarly, crossbars 31 cooperate with the inwardly-facing shoulders 22 and oppose outward movement of the framework relative to the bearing block, although such movement is also resisted by abutment of the transverse strap 25 with the inner face 35 of wedge 17.

The wire material from which the hanger framework is formed, preferably, has a natural resiliency, such as is true of spring steel, with the result that the cantilever arms 26 develop a resilient flexing movement towards and away from each other. In addition, the framework is formed so that the cantilever arms converge slightly in the direction of their outer free ends in order that the arms may develop a gripping action against the sides of the bearing. This gripping action enhances the ability of the outer crossbars 30, which cooperate with the inclined faces 32, to resist inward movement of the framework. The resilient opening and closing movement of the arms, of course, facilitates mounting the framework on the bearing inasmuch as the arms must be spread apart sufficiently to receive the lugs 21 within the loops 27.

A preferred arrangement for supporting the lubricator blanket is shown as comprising an elongated, metallic sleeve 36 of oval cross-section that telescopes over a rod section 37 carried by the wire framework. The rod 37 is supported at both ends of the cantilever arms to support the sleeve 36 underneath and in transverselyspaced relation to the cantilever arm itself in order to provide adequate clearances between these pendent portions of the framework and the sides of the rotating journal.

U-shaped clips 38 (see FIG. 5) are used for attaching the lubricator blanket, generally indicated as 39, to the framework. The ovate cross-sectional shape of the sleeves accommodates the upper bar 40 of the clip to support the lower bar 41 which actually receives one of the encasing sleeves 42 that are formed at the opposite ends of the blanket. The upper and lower bars of the U-shaped clip are, preferably, biased towards each other in the direction of their free ends so that when the upper bar 40 is inserted in the generally horizontal sleeve 36, the lower bar 41 is inclined slightly to the horizontal. Each clip, which, preferably, is of spring steel, cooperates with a support hook 44 that depends from adjacent the outer end of the sleeve, the hook being formed with an up- Wardly-opening eye for receiving the lower bar 41 of the clip, and the arrangement is such that the lower bar is normally held in the eye by the Weight of the blanket.

In the illustrated form, the blanket is of two-piece construction, the separate pieces being designated 46 and 47, with each piece being folded in half and stitched along a line 48 adjacent the fold to form the encasing sleeves 42 for telescopic mounting on the lower bar of the clip. The blanket is formed with a set of vertically-looped folds 50 which are suitably bound together by a horizontallylooped tie-string arrangement 51. In addition, the blanket is formed with a number of tie-string holes spaced apart between the opposite ends of the blanket and arranged, when the blanket is properly folded, to define a tie-string passage 52 (see FIG. 4) through which a tiestring 53 may be inserted and wrapped around the adjacent portion of the large tie-string 51. In the preferred arrangement, two tie-string passage arrangements are employed. While a two-part blanket is shown, it will be apparent that a one-piece blanket could also readily be employed, and it would preferably be folded and tied in the same general manner.

With the opposite ends of the blanket supported on the attachment clips 38, the blanket 35 in eifect, forms a catenary suspension, with the upper parts of the blanket spaced away from the adjacent surfaces of the journal so that only the folds 50 at the center of the blanket will engage the journal. As is apparent, the blanket does not follow an exact catenary curve since the engagement of the blanket folds with the journal distorts the suspension path of the blanket, although it is characteristic of the preent blanket suspension that even without the distortion produced by the folds, the upper portions of the blanket, which could never be reliable wicking surfaces, would actually be spaced away from the journal. Not only would it be undesirable to allow any wiping contact at these upper regions, but any suspension that would normally result in such contact and that depended upon central folds for wicking would place the material of the folds under strong compression and not only would unduly high wiping pressures result, but the wicking properties of the folds would be seriously impaired. The catenary suspension arrangement of the present blanket is such that the normal catenary curve would be spaced from the journal so that the wicking folds develop an effective lubricating action.

The blanket material is preferably of an inherently resilient wickin-g material, such as felt, and the folds are of sufiicient thickness to maintain Wioking contact with the journal in spite of increased clearances that inevitably result as the Babbitt liner 14 wears away.

It should be understood that the description of the preferred form of the invention is for the purpose of complying with Section 112, Title 35 of the US. Code, and that the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.

I claim:

1. In combination with a journal box that has a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and a ceiling at the top, a journal rotatable above the reservoir, a bearing having a lower bearing surface riding on top of the journal and an upper wedging surface bounded at its inner end by an upraised shoulder portion of said bearing, said shoulder terminating short of said ceiling, said bearing having a transversely-extending lug at each of its opposite sides and being formed with an inwardly facing shoulder on each of its opposite sides with the outwardly facing pertions of said lugs inclined towards each other in the direction of the outer end of the bearing, and a wedge engaged between the upper surface of said bearing and said ceiling with its inner end abutting said shoulder to provide a transverse passage that extends across the top surface of said shoulder at the upper inner region of said box; of an open-topped framework for securing a lubricator in said box and comprising a transverse end strap disposed in said passage to bear against the top surface of said shoulder and cantilever arms carried by said strap at its opposite ends and extending along the opposite sides of said bearing, each arm having outer and inner vertical crossbars with a lug-receiving loop between said bars, the free ends of said arms being biased towards each other such that the outer crossbars grip against the side surfaces of the hearing at a point immediately outward of the inclined surfaces of said lugs with the loops supported on the lugs and the inner crossbars engaging said inwardly facing shoulder to maintain said framework in permanently fixed position on said bearing, and attachment means carried by each arm for engaging the opposite ends of a lubricator.

2. A hanger for supporting the opposite ends of a lubricator and comprising a transverse end strap, lengthwise-extending loop-shaped cantilever arms carried at the opposite ends of said strap and defining therewith an open-topped framework, each arm having an intermediate crossbar providing an abutment surface, each arm having another crossbar at its free outer end with the outer ends of said arms biased towards each other to resiliently resist spreading forces, and lubricator attachment members suspended frorn said arms.

3. A lubricator in a journal box that has a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and a ceiling at the top with a journal rotatable above the reservoir and a bearing riding on top of the journal; said lubricator comprising a hanger fixedly mounted on said bearing, lubricator attachment means carried by said hanger at opposite sides of the bear- .ing, and double-ended blanket means in catenary suspension on said attachment means with the intermediate portion of said blanket means formed with a series of parting folds to present a wicking surface to each of the opposite underneath surfaces of the journal.

4. A lubricator in a journal box that has a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and a ceiling at the top with a journal rotatable above the reservoir, a bearing having a lower bearing surface riding on top of the journal and an upper wedging surface bounded at its inner end by an upraised shoulder portion of said bearing, said shoulder terminating short of said ceiling, said bearing having a transversely-extending lug at each of its opposite sides, and a wedge engaged between the upper surface of said bearing and said ceiling with its inner end abutting said shoulder to provide a transverse passage that extends across the top surface of said shoulder at the upper inner region of said box; said lubricator comprising an opentopped framework consisting of a transverse end strap disposed in said passage to bear against the top surface of said shoulder, cantilever arms carried by said strap at its opposite ends and extending along the opposite sides of said heating, said arms being formed with lug-receiving loops having supporting engagement with said lugs, lengthwise-extending rods carried beneath said arms on opposite sidcs of said journal; and blanket means having rodencasing sleeve portions at the opposite ends thereof in catenary suspension on said rods with the intermediate portion of said blanket means formed with at least one vertically-extending fold in wicking relationship between said reservoir and said journal.

5. A lubricator in a journal box that has a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and a ceiling at the top with a journal rotatable above the reservoir, a bearing having a lower bearing surface riding on top of the journal and an upper wedging surface bounded at its inner end by an upraised shoulder portion of said bearing, said shoulder terminating short of said ceiling, said bearing having a transversely-extending lug at each of its opposite sides, and a wedge engaged between the upper surface of said bearing and said ceiling with its inner end abutting said shoulder to provide a transverse passage that extends across the top surface of said shoulder at the upper inner region of said box; said lubricator comprising an opentopped framework consisting of a transverse end strap disposed in said passage to bear against the top surface of said shoulder, cantilever arms extending along the opposite sides of said bearing with their inner ends connected to the opposite ends of said strap at a point spaced outwardly of the vertical plane occupied by the strap portion disposed in said passage, said arms being formed with lugreceiving loops having supporting engagement with said lugs to support said arms adjacent their outer free ends and maintain said framework in permanently fixed relation on said bearing, lengthwise-extending rods carried beneath said arms on opposite sides of said journal; and blacket means having rod-encasing sleeve portions at the opposite ends thereof in catenary suspension on said rods with the intermediate portion of said blanket means being of greater width than the end portions and having a width dimension at least as great as the dimension of the portion of the journal that is engaged by the bearing, said intermediate portion of the blanket means being formed with at least one vertically-looped fold in wicking relationship between said reservoir and said journal.

6. A lubricator in a journal box that has a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and a ceiling at the top with a journal rotatable above the reservoir and a bearing riding on top of the journai; said lubricator comprising a hanger fixedly mounted on said bearing, lubricator attachment means carried by said hanger at opposite sides of the bearing, and double-ended blanket means in catenary suspension on said attachment means with the intermediate portion of said blanket means formed with a series of vertically-looped folds establishing wicking engagement between said reservoir and said journal, said blanket means having tie-string openings located in spaced-apart relationship for registration to define a tie-string passage when said blanket means is folded properly, and tie-string means extending through said tie-string passage and securing the blanket means in folded relationship.

7. A lubricator in a journal box that has a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and a ceiling at the top with a journal rotatable above the reservoir and a bearing riding on top of the journal; said lubricator comprising a hanger fixedly mounted on said bearing, lubricator attachment means carried by said hanger at opposite sides of the bearing, and double-ended blanket means in catenary suspension on said attachment means with the intermediate portion of said blanket means formed with a series of vertically-looped folds establishing Wicking engagement between said reservoir and said journal, and a tie-string extending horizontally about said series of folds to secure the blanket means in folded relationship.

8. A journal and journal box assembly comprising a journal box which is provided with a lubricant reservoir at the bottom and an access opening at the front and has a rotatable journal therein extending forwardly above the reservoir from the rear of the journal box toward the access opening and engaged by a bearing on the top thereof, the said assembly having in the journal box thereof a journal wiper which extends into the reservoir and bears against the journal and is hung on a pair of elongated endwise enterable slideways which extend lengthwise of the journal at opposite sides respectively thereof toward the access opening at the front of the journal box and are cantilever mounted and non-enterable at their rear ends and enterable at their forward ends, the said wiper having opposite side portions projecting upwardly therefrom at opposite sides of the journal and provided with loops which are engaged on the respective slideways and slidably applicable thereon and sliclably removable therefrom through the access opening.

9. An assembly in accordance with claim 8 wherein means is provided at the enterable end of each slideway releasably obstructing removal of the respective loop therefrom.

10. An assembly in accordance with claim 8 wherein a frame is mounted on the bearing and each slideway is a stem and at its rear end is cantilever mounted inseparably on a companion stem and the companion stem is pivoted to said frame and has the slideway stem releasably connected thereto at the entering end of the slideway.

11. An assembly in accordance with claim 8 wherein two groups of stems are provided at opposite sides respectively of the journal and the stems of each group extend lengthwise of the journal and a first stem of each group is part of a wire frame which is mounted on the bearing and a second stem of each group is pivotally supported by said first stem of its respective group and a third stem of each group is one of said slideways and is fixedly connected at its rear end to the rear end of said second stem of its respective group for cantilever mounting thereof and its forward end is detachably connected to the forward end of said second stem of its respective group.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 13,167 Armstrong Nov. 15, 1910 559,691 Eichholtz May 5, 1896 2,017,884 Armstrong Oct. 22, 1935 2,459,058 Armstrong Ian. 11, 1949 2,556,513 Armstrong June 12, 1951 2,668,739 Korn Feb. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 20,662 Great Britain 1910 1,122,090 France Feb. 14, 1956 

